Anyone who has studied Titanic will eventually come upon a variety of conspiracy theories to explain what happened that fateful night in 1912. Becky Little over at History.com has put together the top three of the craziest in an article reviewing these theories. The top ones are:

I had not heard of the first one but it connects to the one concerning the Illuminati and Jesuits conspiring to bring about the Titanic disaster. The Titanic switch theory keeps getting dusted off every decade or so but easily disproved since the wreck found clearly is of Titanic and not Olympic. As for the mummy curse, well it is pretty much debunked now but it too occasionally gets new life on the Internet as well. I pretty much stick with the theory that Marvin the Martian was testing out his new ray weapon at the time.

March 6, 1912: Titanic (right) had to be moved out of the drydock so her sister Olympic (left), which had lost a propeller, could have it replaced. Robert John Welch (1859-1936), Harland & Wolff Public domain

If you have studied Titanic long enough, you are sure to come across various conspiracy theories. They vary from the supernatural (mummy curse) to the exotic (the Iluminati). And some that are even a stretch for conspiracy theorists to wrap around (like time travel or German submarine sinking Titanic). Then there is the switch theory.

What is the switch theory? That White Star switched the ships so that the actual ship that sank was Olympic not Titanic. The reason varies on who is making the claim. Some years ago Robin Gardiner made the claim in his book Titanic:The Ship That Never Sank? that it was done so that White Star could collect damages on the new ship.

The underlying reason for the switch is the HMS Hawke collided with Olympic in 1911. Olympic was determined to be at fault and Lloyd’s of London refused to pay the claim to White Star. So they decided to switch ships and sink Titanic to claim insurance. Of course the planned sinking went awry and you know the rest.

The book is still out there and has some believers on You Tube and elsewhere repeating it as fact to this day. Enter into the fray Myles Power who decided to take on this claim on his YouTube channel. And it certainly has gotten a lot of interest as newspapers like the Daily Star reporting on it. Power spends a lot of time going through the claim and debunking it. At last check it had over 37,000 views and growing.

I read the book when it first came out and shook my head after I closed the last page. It ought to have been an alternative history book. He is not the first nor likely the last that has come up with wildly speculative (and sometimes entertaining) conspiracy theories. In the age of the Internet though, Gardiner is finding that his claims can be debunked for the whole world to see. No word from Gardiner on what he thinks about all of this. He is probably hoping you will spend money at Amazon to buy his book. Check out your local library and see if you can check it out for free.

FYI: Here is a post I did back in 2014 that goes through many of the various theories about Titanic sinking including the conspiracy and supernatural ones.

It is a rainy day here in Northern California. We are being hit with a major storm dumping lots of water and the strong winds are making things treacherous. Trees have come down, power has gone off for many, and some areas have lots of flooding. It amazes me that people will try to drive through large standing pools of water. Most cars end up stranded since waterproofing is not a standard option on most vehicles. And car engines do not like lots of water sloshing about under the hood. Of course the weather forecasters and reporters breathlessly report on every part of storm and the havoc it creates.

Funny thing how repetitive the media can be. For instance the recent claim that the coal bunker fire caused more damage than White Star wanted to admit and contributed to Titanic sinking by weakening the steel, is now going around the world in that all too familiar pattern. It is reported like a new story with headlines that report Titanic’s demise has a new theory. It is not that old since debate on the coal bunker fire has been around for a while. The new claim is that White Star was criminally negligent and ought never to have allowed Titanic to sail. Walter Lord was fond of saying that with Titanic there are many “What If’s.” For instance had they paid more attention to the ice warnings, put more lifeboats on the ship, the lookouts had binoculars and so on much of what happened could have been averted. And this is another one of those type of What If’s.

Over at Bustle they have a listing of the 6 Titanic conspiracy theories. Most are known to Titanic enthusiasts and researchers but here is the list for those who have never seen or heard of them. I am only putting four of the most well known ones on my list.
1) Titanic Switch Theory
No it is not Titanic down there but Olympic. Depending on who is pushing the theory, either the it was done for insurance reasons or to hide something much worse.
2) The Sinking Was Deliberate
This one says Titanic was sunk to kill specific persons (Jacob Astor IV, Benjamin Guggenheim, and Isador Strauss)because they opposed the creation the U.S. Federal Reserve Bank. However things got out of control and more people died as a result. And the Illuminati were involved as well.
3) U-Boat
A German U-Boat sank Titanic and depending on who is advancing the theory either it was an accident or deliberate.
4) That Old Standby: Mummy Curse
A cursed mummy was aboard Titanic and that curse means Titanic and all aboard were doomed. Except there was no Egyptian mummy aboard and its story can be traced back to those trying to stir up a story for their own use.

Mike Bird, who writes for Business Insider,was intrigued by a Titanic conspiracy he had learned about on the Internet. Various Titanic conspiracy theories have been around for a long time. This one involves Benjamin Guggeheim, Isidor Straus, and John Jacob Astor. All three men, so the theory goes, opposed the creation of the U.S. Federal Reserve. So their deaths on Titanic were not coincidental but purposeful and by the Rothschilds. Bird tracked down this theory along with others(The Jesuit and Illuminati ones). Needless to say, he was not impressed (nor are most people when they read up on the facts).

He mentions at the close of his article something I had not heard about:

There’s also a lot of chatter about the idea that the Titanic should
not have sunk just because it hit an iceberg — a sort of
jet-fuel-doesn’t-melt-steel-beams for the early-20th century.

Frankly I am not surprised at all if some out there are taking this
line. Some have no concept, either through ignorance of what icebergs are or simply not understanding the forces involved, that a giant block of ice can cause such crippling damage to the unsinkable Titanic. So if it could not be the culprit, then of course it opens up a world of things to consider. I will leave it at that and still pursue my personal theory that Titanic was sunk by Marvin the Martian playing with his ray gun. 🙂

Way back in 1912 some survivors believed Titanic split in two, but this was dismissed by the British enquiry. And it was commonly believed a gigantic gash was responsible for it sinking so quickly. Today thanks to finding the wreck we know Titanic did split in two but there is no gash. What happened is the iceberg ruptured the hull in many places resulting in tears and holes but no long gash. Since the watertight compartments were not sealed all the way to the top. the water filled in one and then the other pulling Titanic down to its doom. Various other theories have emerged that may have contributed to her demise. This includes the bunker fire or brittle steel. Other explanations either take a supernatural turn (mummy’s curse) or a conspiracy of some kind.

There is a video out there that purports to prove Titanic is Olympic, that White Star switched the liners for its own reasons (insurance or other corrupt issues). Generally this theory believes the tragedy was unplanned, that something went horribly wrong resulting in loss of life. The British enquiry (not the American one) was a cover-up. Lord Mersey kept key facts from being heard and proof is his handling of Lusitania’s sinking. which was torpedoed by German submarine on 7 May 1915. Her rapid sinking and belief it was carrying munitions from the United States (which was neutral at the time) has fed many conspiracy theories. So far it is unproven whether Lusitania actually carried munitions.

Now this theory has been out there for a long time. I think it comes back every twenty years or so with someone claiming they have the goods the ship was switched. For years it had little traction, since the ship was too far down for any conventional diving method to see for sure. And like all conspiracies, there often a small group of believers out there. Just like there are people who believe Neil Armstrong never set foot on the moon or that 11 Sep 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center were a government conspiracy, there are those who argue the Titanic/Olympic switch.

The problem is that we know what Olympic and Titanic looked like. Aside from photographs and blueprints, there is a lot of material from news reports. Both ships were well known and switching identities would not be easy at all. In fact it would be very hard to do. Due to the large size, these ships could only be fitted out in places that had the facilities to handle them. And in 1912, that was limited to just a few places like Harland & Wolfe in Belfast. Then you needed the labor to do all the retrofitting required for a switch. Merely changing the nameplate and repainting the names would not be enough. Lots of details to be taken care of as this would be a major operation. Assuming you could do this without arousing any suspicion, the main problem will be making sure that everyone involved keeps their mouths shut. Think about it. You have the workers, the shipyard owners, the sailors and officers of each ship, White Star Line and government officials that would have to be involved. Only if you operated like the Gestapo or Stalin’s henchmen could you pull off total silence.

Of course there is another problem, namely that wreck two miles down on the ocean floor. It has been examined and photographed very closely. Artifacts from the debris field have been brought up. So far nothing has been found that contradicts it is Titanic.

Then there is another problem. Namely that White Star was willing to risk lives to pull off the switch. They knew exactly how many people those lifeboats would carry and that a lot would be stuck on board waiting for lifeboats to return (assuming rescue ship was right there). No matter what one may think of J. Bruce Ismay, I cannot imagine him signing off on a plan that would put so many in peril. It simply would have been unthinkable and foolish to boot simply to collect insurance. A far simpler plan with minimal loss of life would have it occur during sea trials or a trial run between Ireland and the U.S. before having passengers board. This is not a crew of pirates and scoundrels for the most part but well trained officers with years of experience. Much of the crew, except for the newest the same. So it would be hard to get them aboard with such a scheme. Of course conspiracy theorists have an answer: a private submersible would await Titanic and then sink her. The officers and crew would be unaware of any conspiracy and any blame would likely fall on Germany due its well known bellicose nature at the time.

So far no one has proved with hard irrefutable evidence that a switch occurred. We get lots of interesting bits of suggestive information but just smoke and no fire. So if you hear about this tall tale around the web with a link to a video, by all means watch it. If nothing else to be amused by the seriousness of the person making the claim. Remember though such claims require extraordinary proof. And in this case that is very hard to find.